Teaching the Mind
Ten Super Simple, Super Mind-Building Ways
for Your Young Child to Have Fun Inside!
by Bethany Poore
All of these activities:
- are simple and quick to prepare
- use only materials you already have at home
- can be prepared by you and your child together
- are great for your young child's thinking skills
1. Pouring Practice
Give your child practice with a pitcher so you can let her pour a drink by herself without cringing or cleaning up spills!
You need:
- one bathtub
- 10 to 15 non-breakable containers that hold liquid (plastic drinking cups, measuring cups, small bowls, saucepans, plastic storage containers, bread pan, muffin pan)
- plastic pitcher or empty large plastic juice bottle
Lay all the containers on the floor of the bathtub. Have your child kneel outside the tub. Instruct her to use only cold water so she doesn't burn herself. Give her the pitcher and have her practice filling all the containers without letting any water spill over. Then she can dump them out and do it again. Ask her to show you when she has all the containers filled to the level that she can pick them up without spilling any water. (It's good to practice to not fill them to the very top.)
Options: You may also use empty discarded containers, such as yogurt tubs and disposable cups. This activity can easily lead to playing restaurant, house, or tea party!
2. Cookie Cutter Puzzle
Help your child practice pencil control, creativity, cutting, and matching!
You need:
- two pieces of paper of different colors
- one pencil
- children's scissors
- several cookie cutters
Have your child choose 5-7 cookie cutters for his puzzle. Have him trace around each cookie cutter on each piece of paper. Next have him cut out the shapes from one sheet of paper. Now he has a puzzle to match the cut-out shapes with the outlines on the other piece paper. Be aware that the bottom edge of some cookie cutters are sharp.
Options: Your child can continue making puzzles with pairs of different-colored paper as long as he's interested. He can also make his puzzles more elaborate by decorating with crayons.
3. Pizza Party
Help your child practice creativity, fine motor skills, and fractions!
You need:
- cheap, thin paper plates
- crayons or markers
- children's scissors
- a photo album
Start by saying that the scissors are for pizza, and we're not going to cut the photos! (Use a magazine instead if you're worried!) Open the photo album and choose a photo of 2 or more people. A family photo is a great one to start with. Have your child count the number of people in the group. Tell your child she is making a paper pizza for this group. Have your child draw a pizza on the paper plate. Encourage her to draw her favorite toppings in detail. Tell her to cut the pizza apart so that each person in the group will have one piece. Tell your child to choose another photo with a different number of people, then make and cut another pizza for that group!
Options: These pizzas are also puzzles that your child can put back together after they have been cut. Don't worry if the pieces of pizza are not the same size; she is still getting practice in the concept of parts and whole. She will likely get better at making the portions equal as she practices.
4. Mystery Bag
Help your child develop his sense of touch, grouping, and thinking skills!
You need:
- tote bag or large purse
- ten pairs of small items
Tell your child to collect ten pairs of small items. You may want to suggest the following: socks, rubber bands, crayons, buttons, spools, spoons, rubber balls, beans, paper clips, drinking straws, marbles, green army men, candy, pasta—anything small of which there are at least two in your house. Have your child place everything in the bag and shake it up. Then, using only his sense of touch, have him pull the things out of the bag in pairs until everything is matched up on a bed, a table, or the floor.
5. Life Skills Game
This game is to help your child with matching and fine motor skills, and to give her practice on all kinds of skills that will help you!
You need:
- a large box
- everyday household items, such as: an empty water bottle with a lid, a shoe with a shoelace, a zip storage bag, a plastic child's or baby's cup with lid, a washcloth, a kitchen towel, a stack of plastic cups, a shirt and hanger, assorted plastic silverware, an empty cracker or cereal box, a box of crayons, a pair of socks, sheets of paper and a folder, a jacket with a zipper, pencils and a rubber band, a long string, a plastic leftover container with lid, an envelope and note card
With your child's help, collect items that you have available from the list (or other things you have around that would fit the game). You might want send her to get the items one at a time. While your child watches, undo everything and put it in the box. Take the lid off the water bottle, untie the shoelace, dump out the crayons, turn the socks wrong side out, unzip the storage bag, take the lid off the baby cup, unfold the washcloth and kitchen towel, unstack the cups, take the shirt off the hanger, etc. Mix it all up.
Your child's task is to put everything to rights! Silverware sorted, cups in a stack, washcloth folded, jacket zipped, card in the envelope, cereal box closed correctly, papers in the folder, pencils in the rubber band, string neatly wound, etc. It is a good idea to be in the same room the first time around so your child can ask you, “What do I do with the shirt?” or if she needs help getting the zipper started. When your child completes all the tasks, check her work and provide correction and help where needed. Then she can undo everything herself and put it to rights again!
Options: If competing against herself would provide more fun and motivation for your child, time her work and let her try to do it more quickly each time. Or, if it would be better for your child to practice doing things well, give her a point for each task she completes correctly without help.
6. Sort Out the Bookshelf
Help your child learn neatness, describing, and sorting, and maybe get some reading inspiration while she's at it!
You need:
- one disorganized shelf of children's books
Is your child's bookshelf a mess? If not, would it be okay to have it otherwise arranged? Tell your child to arrange the books in some way of your choosing: all the white books together, all the red books together, all the multi-colored books together, etc. You could also have her group the books by tall and short or by thick and thin. Even more advanced is to arrange books about animals, books about kids, etc. Hopefully you'll come out of it with a better-looking bookshelf and a child who has had her curiosity piqued by some forgotten books!
7. Puzzle in the Laundry Game
Get some laundry folded while your child practices thinking and fine motor skills!
You need:
- one puzzle that your child can complete
- one basket of laundry that your child can fold
Fill a laundry basket with simple things to fold, such as socks, towels, washcloths, and kitchen towels. Tell your child not to peek, and hide all the pieces of a puzzle in the basket. Put some of the pieces inside socks. Tell your child to start at the top and fold as he goes, trying to locate all the pieces in the puzzle and put it together. Admire and appreciate his work when he is finished.
8. Which Thing is Different? Game
This game gives your child practice with vocabulary, describing, and grouping.
You need:
- one large tray or cookie sheet
Tell your child to wait while you gather four items: three alike and one different from the others. You might get a shoe, sock, slipper, and hairbrush. You could get a saucepan, spoon, spatula, and crayon. Or get a calculator, cordless phone, electronic kitchen timer, and potholder. Place the four items on the tray and ask, “Which one is different?” When he chooses which item is different, encourage him to name each item and tell you why one is different. “You wear the sock, shoe, and slipper on your foot, but you use the hairbrush on your head” and “You use the pan, spoon, and spatula for cooking, but the crayon is for drawing” and “The calculator, phone, and timer have buttons, but the potholder doesn't!” You may need to model this explanation a few times to give your child some hints.
Then give the tray to your child and have him get three alike things and one different. You might suggest, “Start with your toys,” if he seems stumped. Have him bring the tray with four items to show you. Tell him which item is different. If he makes a mistake choosing the items, talk about what item to change and why. Use the correct names for the items and descriptive words to stimulate his vocabulary. Send him off again to gather three-alike-and-one-different things to bring and quiz you.
9. 10 in a Row
Help your child learn observation, problem solving, comparison, and counting!
Tell your child to bring one item at a time to the kitchen table until there are 10 items. Tell him to start with the smallest item he can think of and each time bring an item that is bigger than the last. The last item should be the biggest of all. It will work best if he brings one item at a time and lines up the items in order.
Options: If your child has trouble knowing where to start, suggest a paper clip, penny, or piece of pasta. Play again starting with the biggest item and going to the smallest.
10. Something Sparkly, Something Round, Something Shiny
Help your child learn to describe with adjectives.
Tell your child what an adjective is: a word that describes something like big, blue, shiny, rough, smooth, delicious, or scary. Send your child on an adjective hunt. Tell her “Find something blue.” When she brings you something blue, such as a jacket, ask her, “What is another adjective for the blue jacket?” Maybe it's soft, fuzzy, or small. If possible, put the item on a table or counter. Send her off on another adjective hunt, such as “Find something fluffy.” Repeat the process, asking for a second adjective after she finds the item. After she has collected several items, review the adjectives for each item, and add more adjectives you and your child think of. Then have her put everything away!
Options: If you have time, have your child write or dictate labels for the items for writing and reading practice: “This jacket is blue and soft” and “The boot is black and heavy.” If it's not workable for your child to find and bring items to you, have her sit at a table with paper and crayons and draw an item that fits each adjective you give her.
Please use all common sense safety precautions while using these activities! Children always need adequate adult supervision.